Interestingly enough, Dr. Mario and Pichu are not considered to be Echo Fighters of Mario and Pikachu. As a result, there was an impression that Echo Fighters had to have the exact same moveset as the character that they were echoing, but with different properties.

While Marth and Lucina's forward smash attacks essentially functioned the same way, the power and properties of the attack were different between the two based on what part of the hitbox connected. Outside of the properties of their attacks and animations, Marth and Lucina basically did the same things.

Dr. Mario's down aerial and down special were attacks that Mario did not have access to. I believe Pichu probably has a unique up smash and neutral aerial when compared to Pikachu.

The introduction of Chrom and his classification as an Echo Fighter has provided new information about this title. While Chrom is echoing Roy, his up special looks eerily similar to Ike's version of the attack.

Click image for animated version

Of course, there are even some differences between Chrom and Ike's up special. Unlike Chrom, Ike actually throws his blade upwards before ascending to grab it.

To be honest, it's not entirely clear why Pichu and Dr. Mario are not labeled as Echo Fighters if they are allowed to have this classification despite having moves that are unique to them.

Perhaps this has more to do with the playstyle of the Echo Fighters and the characters that they are emulating. At the end of the day, Chrom's up special will still be used for recovery, will likely have armored properties, has multiple hits associated with the attack, and can be comboed into — just like Roy's up special.

Still, Chrom will be able to do something with his up special that Roy won't be able to do. In a last ditch effort, Chrom can spike opponents below the stage boundaries while both players are off-stage. He'll most likely sacrifice one of his own stocks to do this.

If we look at Marth and Lucina's playstyles, Lucina's blade offers equal power throughout her blade while Marth has most of his power located at the tip of his sword. While playing as Lucina, it's still considered to be optimal to keep the opponent away at the same range as Marth while poking.

The only difference between Marth and Lucina is the amount of reward they are able to reap from attacks that are perfectly spaced and those that are not. While this is enough to affect match ups differently, you still play Marth and Lucina the exact same way.

Now if we take a look at Pikachu and Pichu, we can clearly see that most of their moveset functions extremely similarly. What really sets them apart is Pichu's self-damage mechanic.

While Pikachu is able to freely use his electrical attacks, Pichu takes damage whenever this is done. In other words, Pichu is encouraged to use certain attacks more sparingly than Pikachu. There are marginal differences in playstyles as a result of this.

Pit and Dark Pit's game plans are also exactly the same. You use their moves in basically the exact same situations.

Previously, I believe that a character like Dixie Kong wouldn't be an Echo Fighter since that meant she would have to use Diddy's rocket barrels for her recovery. Now, that idea seems more plausible to me. I imagine they'd essentially give Dixie a varied version of Donkey Kong's up special.

The fact that Chrom has an up special that is different from Roy's really throws a wrench in what was perceived to be the definition of "Echo Fighter." We'll have to wait and see how future Echo Fighters are designed to paint a clearer picture, should Nintendo add more to the playable roster.

Be sure to let us know how you view the term "Echo Fighter" in the comments section.